diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index e45e09d..5767c8b 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -618,11 +618,30 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           # Install Python 3.12 using pyenv (required for modern type hints like str | None)
           # Debian Bullseye doesn't have Python 3.12 in default repos, so we use pyenv
-          apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
-            make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev \
-            libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm \
-            libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev libxml2-dev libxmlsec1-dev \
-            libffi-dev liblzma-dev git
+          # Retry logic for transient Debian mirror sync issues
+          MAX_RETRIES=3
+          RETRY_COUNT=0
+          while [ $RETRY_COUNT -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; do
+            if apt-get update && apt-get install -y --fix-missing \
+              make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev \
+              libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm \
+              libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev libxml2-dev libxmlsec1-dev \
+              libffi-dev liblzma-dev git; then
+              echo "✅ Package installation succeeded"
+              break
+            else
+              RETRY_COUNT=$((RETRY_COUNT + 1))
+              if [ $RETRY_COUNT -lt $MAX_RETRIES ]; then
+                echo "⚠️  Package installation failed (attempt $RETRY_COUNT/$MAX_RETRIES), retrying in 5 seconds..."
+                sleep 5
+                # Clear apt cache and retry
+                apt-get clean
+              else
+                echo "❌ Package installation failed after $MAX_RETRIES attempts"
+                exit 1
+              fi
+            fi
+          done
           
           # Install pyenv
           export PYENV_ROOT="/opt/pyenv"
diff --git a/viewer-frontend/components/PhotoGrid.tsx b/viewer-frontend/components/PhotoGrid.tsx
index 5319773..7c03270 100644
--- a/viewer-frontend/components/PhotoGrid.tsx
+++ b/viewer-frontend/components/PhotoGrid.tsx
@@ -626,6 +626,7 @@ export function PhotoGrid({
                       className="object-contain bg-black/5 transition-transform duration-300 group-hover:scale-105"
                       sizes="(max-width: 640px) 50vw, (max-width: 1024px) 33vw, 20vw"
                       priority={index < 9}
+                      unoptimized={!isUrl(photo.path)}
                       onLoad={(e) => !isVideoPhoto && handleImageLoad(photo.id, e.currentTarget)}
                     />
                     <div className="absolute inset-0 bg-black/0 transition-colors group-hover:bg-black/10" />
diff --git a/viewer-frontend/next.config.ts b/viewer-frontend/next.config.ts
index 4147b4b..384a05f 100644
--- a/viewer-frontend/next.config.ts
+++ b/viewer-frontend/next.config.ts
@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@ const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
       // },
       // Add other CDN or image hosting domains as needed
     ],
-    // Configure local patterns for API routes with query strings
-    localPatterns: [
-      {
-        pathname: '/api/photos/**/image',
-      },
-    ],
+    
     // Enable image optimization in production
     // In development, images are unoptimized for faster iteration
     unoptimized: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development',